1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of permanent and retrievable catheters, and more particularly, is directed to an insertable, flexible router suitable to clear blockages in a catheter without requiring physical removal of the catheter from the patient and to the method of using the catheter line router.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Catheters and other types of drainage tubes have long been utilized by surgeons and physicians in special applications for draining certain body fluids. In the case of kidney disease, it is now the common practice to insert a retrievable, flexible catheter having its proximal end positioned within a patient. The distal end of the catheter extends exteriorly of the patient's body in usual manner for drainage purposes. One such device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,671,795 entitled "Permanent/Retrievable Ureteral Catheter".
While such prior art devices are generally satisfactory when in use, experience has shown that the entrance to the inserted proximal end of the catheter has a tendency to become blocked with body salts during use, thereby requiring periodic cleaning by utilizing some type of suitable instrument. In those instances where the blockage cannot be relieved from exterior of the body, then it is necessary to surgically or otherwise remove the catheter for cleaning and repositioning within the body of the patient. This of course results in increased patient discomfort and in increased overall treatment costs and in increased risk of tissue damage or rupture of the ureter or of the aorta.
In an effort to provide some type of suitable cleaning implement for hollow conduits, such as catheters, which may be inserted in the human body, prior workers in the art have developed various types of tools and implements in an effort to unclog the conduit from exteriorly of the body to thereby allow continued use of the catheter. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 958,854, there is disclosed hollow body or conduit that is particularly designed for and is suitable for insertion into a part of the body. A scraper is movable within the conduit and is endwardly provided with a cage which is utilized to prevent clogging. This device is intended for use with a rigid straight tube and is designed to penetrate soft tissue to provide a passageway for air or fluid to the outside of the body.
In U.S. Pat. No. 1,767,073, there is disclosed a catheter which comprises a tube having a head including a plurality of apertures. A cleaning wire including an exterior handle and a bent interior end is designed to be inserted into the tube to break encrustations from the inner wall of the tube. This device also comprises a straight rigid metal tube having no flexibility.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,525,329, there is disclosed a trocar apparatus including a rigid straight tube which is designed to penetrate soft tissue and to provide a passageway for air or fluid from the penetrated area to outside of the body.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,532, there is disclosed a drainage tube having an independent interior tube which is designed to assist in drainage by introducing a sucking action in addition to and in combination with a scraping action. There is no type of cutting or drilling feature present in conjunction with the interior tube.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,709,211, a diagnostic myelography needle is disclosed for injecting and removing fluid material from channels of the human body, particularly the spinal canal. This device includes a hollow shank and an interior rod wherein the lower end of the rod is formed into a loop and the upper end of the rod is secured to a plug. This patent describes a rigid tube along with a stiff rod to aid in the aspiration of fluids and is not designed to clear encrustations or salts from a flexible catheter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,802 discloses a multi-piece catheter which incorporates an auger for the removal of blood clots and debris which may cause blockage of the catheter. The device shows no means for boring or drilling through a blockage caused by encrustations of salts for subsequent drainage through the catheter without removal.
Accordingly, the need remains to provide an easily operable, flexible means for boring or drilling encrustations or salts which may form on and block the proximal end of a catheter from the exterior of the body and without requiring removal of the catheter.